


Being a Big Sister is my Job

by NanoTwentyFaces



Category: RWBY
Genre: Character Bonding, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Sibling Bonding, Yang being the best older sister
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 04:36:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20960576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanoTwentyFaces/pseuds/NanoTwentyFaces
Summary: With him being younger than Ruby, and practically just as awkward, Yang ends up being a big sister for Oscar too. She'd always wondered what it was like to have a little brother anyway. And Oscar's never had a big sister. (Also titled as 4 times Yang was Oscar's big sister, and 1 time he was a true little brother)





	1. Homesickness

**Author's Note:**

> I love the bond that Ruby and Oscar have, and kind of wish to see him bond with Yang since I could really see her being an older sibling to him. So here's 4 times, taking place in Volumes 5-6, that Yang got to be his older sister, and 1 time that he got to be her little brother. Each instance will be its own chapter since they ended up longer than I intended.

Waking up early wasn’t usually a problem for Oscar. He was always doing it back on the farm. Maybe he was getting sick. Or something with the noise in Mistral, it was the city afterall. That had to be it. Maybe he could get some earplugs from one of the others in the house. 

Wordlessly, he ate his breakfast with the others. Ren made pancakes again. They were really good, but he wasn’t really all that hungry this morning….or the past mornings. It must be nothing, just tired of having the same thing for breakfast probably. Cheek resting in his hand, he poked and pushed at the remnants of food on his plate. 

“Oscar?”

He jolted his head up, almost dropping his fork. “Huh?” He didn’t realize he spaced out. It was Yang. 

“You coming?”

He stared at her for a moment. Then it dawned on him: training. “Oh-yeah...uh…” That’s right, they were all training, how did it slip his mind? They’d been doing it every day. “Yeah i’m coming.” He slipped out of his chair, gathering up his plate. “Just gotta clean up first.”

She smiled at him, hand on her hip. “Don’t take too long. Remember,” She stretched an arm across, “you’re training with me today in hand-to-hand.”

He flinched back a bit, making her giggle. “Don’t worry, I won’t go all out. Ruby told me you guys are about the same level, and i’ve worked with her before. I’ll see you downstairs.”

  
  


Something was off. Must be because he’s tired, and he barely ate breakfast. He spaced out again for a moment, just barely ducking out of the way of a punch and kick; only then for the next kick to hit him square in the chest. He pushed himself up, rubbing his chest. 

_ Oscar, please try to stay focused. Is something wrong?  _

“No,” Oscar replied, a little too quickly, “I’m fine.” Ozpin didn’t press further, settling back into the back of his mind. A hand was in front of Oscar, he suddenly noticed: Yang. 

“Want to try that again? You almost had it.”

Oscar sighed, “Not really…” Jerking his head back up he realized he’s said that out loud. “I mean-sorry...I just-”

“Okay, how about this,” Yang cut him off, “I won’t use any kicks, we’ll just focus on the punching for now. That’s more my specialty anyway.” He took her hand, standing back up. 

Hours later, he sat on the couch, rubbing at the forming bruise on his face. He’d spaced out again, and wasn’t lucky enough to move in time to avoid the punch, taking it square in the cheek. It left him dazed for several seconds, prompting the others to check on him, and Yang to call it a day on their training; and even now to a scolding from Ozpin, after they had dinner, on being so unfocused today, but walking him through on using his aura to heal the bruise. He looked down at the floor, letting his aura do the work, diligently keeping his mind on the simple task lest another scolding and press from Ozpin if something was wrong. Nothing was wrong, he was just having an off day, simple as that. Okay, maybe a couple of off days. 

The creak of the floorboards prompted him to look up; Yang. She gave him a small smile. “Hey.”

“Hey…” Oscar replied, his eyes meeting hers for a second. Striding forward, she stepped past him, turning and dropping onto the couch beside him. 

“Gave ya a pretty good kisser didn’t I? You okay?”

“Yeah, i’m fine, aura is taking care of it.” He shrugged, turning to her for a second. 

“Well i’ll make sure to hold back a little more next time. Guess I got a little carried away today.” She leaned back, arms behind her head. 

“No,” Oscar replied, his aura fading away as the healing finished, “It was my fault. I wasn’t really focused, and didn’t pay attention.” He paused looking away for a second. “I won’t let it happen again tomorrow.”

A hand clapped him on the back, “Aw don’t worry about it. Now you know what happens when you don’t pay attention in close-combat.” She pushed herself off the couch, patting his shoulder. “Go get some sleep, and be ready for tomorrow. Good night, Oscar.”

“Night.” He replied, watching her go upstairs. 

Fat chance he was getting any sleep tonight. He had a little bit of trouble falling asleep before, but now this was ridiculous. It was almost 1:30 in the morning and no matter what he did he couldn’t fall asleep. Finally, frustrated enough, he threw off the covers, slipping out of the room and downstairs. He feet automatically, took him outside to the backyard. Walking over to the railing he looked out at the city below. Even though it was late at night and the whole city was sleeping, the lights still illuminated the night. Creating a sea of another form of stars below him. He leaned a little more over, not being able to see them, but listening to the waterfalls in the distance. They couldn’t really be heard in the daytime, with the city bustling with everyday life. But the still and quiet of the night let the distant roar reach his ears. Leaning back, Oscar sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

_ Oscar _

Great. Now Ozpin was awake. He promptly turned on his heel, heading back toward the house, in hopes to avoid any questions. 

_ Oscar, something’s wrong. What is it? I don’t think at this point you can tell me nothing’s wrong.  _

Oscar groaned, stopping in his tracks, tipping his head back, covering his eyes. “Gah, I don’t know, okay! I don’t know what’s wrong with me!” Swiveling, back around, he let himself drop backwards so he was lying on his back on the ground. There was no response from the old headmaster. Instead, he heard soft footsteps in the dirt behind him. He didn’t remove his hands from his eyes. The steps stopped right at the top of his head. Then something soft was brushing against his hands and forehead. Now he removed his hands, blinking at the yellow hair above him, soft, lilac eyes at the top of it.

“I take it you can’t sleep?” 

Yang.

He looked away, embarrassed. She leaned back up, stepping around and sitting beside him. Her silence he took it meant that she was waiting for him to answer her. 

“Yeah….”he finally answered, looking straight back up at the sky, “can’t sleep…...what about you?”

She shrugged, not looking at him, “Just found myself awake.”

“So….why’d you come out here?”

“Just felt like it.” She flipped her hair with her hand. “And....may have felt that something was wrong.” She turned her head down towards him. “So?”

Oscar sighed, sitting up, crossing his legs. “I don’t know what it is…..” He finally answered. “I thought I was just having an off day or so. I just….don’t know what’s the matter with me. Everything’s been fine since I got here. But now, I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, and I can’t focus on my training. And even when I come out here to try and relax, it’s like I feel like it’s wrong. Suddenly everything here feels wrong, like a part of me doesn’t want it.It’s almost like I hate it, but I don’t at the same time.” 

  
  


He glanced over at Yang, she was smiling, just a tiny one. Her gaze was soft, watching him the entire time he spoke. “I’m crazy aren’t I….?” He whispered. 

“Nope,” Yang scooted closer to him, draping an arm around his neck, “Oscar, you’re just homesick.”

He looked up at her, brows furrowed in innocent confusion. “Oscar, what you’re feeling is completely normal. You’ve never been away from home before, especially on your own. So, naturally you may feel you’re really missing your home. Ruby was the same way when we first got to Beacon.” Her arm around his neck, turned up, so she was petting his hair softly. “She missed Dad’s cooking, couldn’t sleep some nights cause she missed her room and Zwei, our dog, who slept with her a lot.”

They were both silent for a moment, Yang’s hand still running across Oscar’s hair, his head leaning into her shoulder. “I bet you guys really miss your home now….”

“Yeah,” She answered, “Ruby won’t say it out loud to us, but she definitely does. And I do too. I spent the entire time Ruby was coming here at home recovering, and It wasn’t that long ago that I left to come find her. Even then, I miss home too, especially when we don’t know how long it’ll be til we can go back.”

“I’ll probably never be able to go home….” Oscar mumbled, a tear slowly finding its way out of his eye. Yang glanced down at him. “This whole thing with him, Ozpin, is permanent. Our souls are combined, and I accepted to come here and do this….his mission. There’s no way i’ll ever be able to go back.” He sucked a breath in, a few more tears finding their way out now. 

“You don’t know that for sure.” She gave him a little squeeze. “Your Ozpin’s partner now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go back home at some point. Maybe it won’t be for awhile, the same way for all of us.” She removed her arm, turning herself to be facing him. “In the simple way, all we gotta do is stop Salem. It won’t be easy, that’s for sure. But, you will have us along the way. And you know, “She reached out wiping away a tear with her finger, “Summer-.....my mom had a saying: that home can be wherever your family is.”

“But I don’t-” She shushed him with her finger.

“And also, family isn’t always by blood. So, if you’re ever feeling like this, it’s okay if you do, everyone does from time-to-time. If you need, we can do whatever we can to help you feel a bit more at home. How about this: tomorrow night we make your favorite dinner you would have at home, how’s that sound?”

Oscar turned away, rubbing the back of his head, in embarrassment, but smiling. “Yeah, that sounds good…..Thanks, Yang.”

She tousled his hair, standing up. “It’s no big. No try to go get some sleep, i’ll even let you sleep in a little bit.”


	2. Dealing with the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When there's an accident during training that scares Oscar, Yang helps him work through it with her own experiences. (Set during Volume 5 before the Battle of Haven)

When Oscar first met Yang, he accidentally stared at her arm for too long. He hadn’t meant to do it. It was an accident. He’d known that Ruby had a sister; strong, a brawler, very much like their father, caring, and very much a jokester. Ruby had talked about her a little bit to him, and the others had mentioned to him that she had been hurt during the Fall of Beacon and why she hadn’t come with them. What he hadn’t known was that she had lost an arm; nor did Ozpin. Upon seeing and learning that for himself, he’d been caught staring by her when Ruby pulled him over to introduce them. A sadness had bolstered to his chest suddenly, and a tear falling down his cheek, both not belonging to him, but uncontrollable. Both of the sisters became laced with concern, Ruby asking if he was alright, Yang looking away for a moment. He profusely apologized when he realized it, wiping away the tear, avoiding looking at both of them. Yang told him not to worry about it, and luckily Ren had called that dinner was ready, ending the conversation. 

The first time he’d seen Yang use her semblance, he’d jumped back a little. Even though Ozpin had told him of what Yang’s semblance was like, he still wasn’t prepared for the small burst of flames, and continuous burn around her body. He swore he could feel the heat all the way from where he was watching on the sidelines. The force of her semblance was amazing to Oscar, the fact that you could have your own strength thrown right back at you and even stronger. It was amazing, but it didn’t go unnoticed by Ozpin, or some of the others, that as Yang fought with her semblance in use Oscar had taken a step or two back. Jaune and Nora assured him that everything was okay, Yang seemed a little scary in that form, but she was still Yang; which helped in Oscar being able to see the fun smile on Yang’s face as she sparred. 

Training with Yang was a whole new experience. Obviously, he couldn’t keep up with her in hand-to-hand whatsoever. Even sparring with weapons he didn’t fare much better. Ozpin had switched with him for a match to get some teaching in to both of them, though that same match had to cut Oscar’s training short for the day by Ozpin’s efforts exhausting him completely. Even though it was rough, he learned good things from Yang; how to be much more aggressive in fighting, looking for another way around, saving your energy and stamina in a fight. Even though she was tough, she was always encouraging. The first time he was able to block a hit from her without falling down, she’d praised him largely and tousled his hair. It was almost like she was a giant teddy bear. One of those teddy bears that looked just a little scary, but then was the softest and most huggable bears ever. 

Training was tedious; work on hand-to-hand, work with a weapon, practice forms, learn the types, then use the types of dust. By now Ozpin and the others had noticed Oscar’s avoidance of using Fire dust in particular. He was able to pass it off at first that using fire dust around the house would be too risky with his skills. But that excuse couldn’t last forever and Ozpin had called him out on his hesitancy, urging him that he needed to get used to all forms of dust. Today was dust training in particular. Oscar held the red crystal in his hand, staring down at it. 

_ Is there a reason you don’t want to use it?  _

“Can’t you just look into my thoughts?” Oscar spit back a little to sassily. 

_ Passive thoughts I can hear are one thing. Your deeper thoughts are another, what you keep from me or anyone knowing. Are you scared? _

“Something like that.” Oscar muttered, dropping his hand to his side. 

_ We can take it slow then, I can even be in control and show you- _

“No.” Oscar said a little too quickly. “No, i’d rather do it myself.” Fire being ignited around him, and not even be able to be in control, no thanks. 

_ Alright. I’ll walk you through this. It’s a very simple technique, almost exactly like the other types. Now, hold the crystal up to the length of the cane.  _

Taking a deep breath, he slowly raised the cane in the right hand, the fire crystal in his left; trying to hide the trembling in his hands. He flinched back, bringing the two away from each other as the crystal nicked the cane from his shaking. 

_ It’s alright, Oscar.  _ Ozpin chuckled a little.  _ A little nick wouldn’t make a crystal of dust activate, you know that. But you should be careful anyway with fire dust. Fire is a strong element, and crystals like these pack some power in their use.  _

He prepared to bring the two back together, slowly, deep breaths. He had the crystal right next to the cane, when a yell interrupted him. 

“INCOMING!”

His head whipped around to see glyphs appearing right in his path, and Weiss 

flying back right towards him through the glyphs. With a gasp, he rolled out of the way just as she landed on the wall behind him, flipping off of it into a ready stance. He kneeled on the floor watching as Yang, just outside the doors, fired shots from her gauntlets at her. With twirls of grace and ease, Weiss dodged and deflected each shot with icy, tendril shots from her glyphs. Yang attempted one more shot that Weiss cuts through with her sword, the flames following it in an arc around her body as she spun. 

Oscar watched in awe at her form and steps, until his eye caught something at her feet, something red. Gasping, he glanced down at his hand. The fire crystal was gone, he must have dropped it when he rolled out of the way. It glowed faintly at her feet, anything more could set it off. She activated a gravity glyph, the crystal rose up near her body. Yang had her arm reeled back for one more shot.

“Weiss!” He yelled. She glanced over at him, then seeing the crystal below. She gasped, quickly making another glyph to launch herself to the side out of the way as Yang’s shot flew right through the air into the crystal. Oscar scrambled up, backing away as quick as he could as the crystal exploded in a wide burst of flames and immense heat. Oscar felt himself fall backwards onto the floor from the blast, arms up trying to protect himself from the flames, as he felt the heat. His body moved quicker than his mind, sitting up quickly, seeing a blaze now burning where Weiss had been standing, residual flames licking and spread at the floor around him. He scrambled up and away, straight into Ren, who gently took him by the shoulders, moving him away as the others quickly worked to put out the fire. He didn’t stop moving backwards, breaths becoming shorter and faster, until he felt his foot hit the stairs, and quickly running up them out of the room. 

“Is everybody okay?” Ruby ran into the room, just as Weiss finished putting out the flames with water dust from her sword. 

“Yeah,” Weiss answered, “Just a bit of an accident. Nobody’s hurt.” 

“Sorry,” Yang tugged at her hair, “didn’t see that burn crystal.”

“You shouldn’t have been firing in the house anyway, that’s why we were outside,” Weiss placed a hand on her hip, pointing at Yang, “but I didn’t see it either. Good thing Oscar did.”

“Wait,” Ruby looked around, “where is Oscar?”

“ Do you think he might’ve gotten scared by the blast,” Ren noted, looking behind him, “he was pretty close to it.”

“I’ll go find him,” Yang volunteered, stepping forward, “it was my fault anyway.”

He’d only made it to his room on the first floor, not even able to close the door all the way as he collapsed against the side of the bed. Heaving shaky breaths, gripping the blanket, his sweat covered forehead pressed against it as he squeezed his eyes shut. His other hand, gripped at his chest, fingers trailing up toward the bandages around his neck. 

_ Oscar, you need to control your breathing.  _ Ozpin’s voice cut through the fog beginning to surround his senses.  _ Oscar, it’s alright, please just listen to me and take a deep breath.  _

“Stop!” Oscar choked out, curling himself deeper against the side of the bed. His short breaths becoming harder and quicker. The tightness in his chest flared more, his breaths mixing with choked sobs. The world was starting to feel like it was spinning or he was floating, or maybe the ground was going to fall out from underneath him. 

“Oscar?” It was quiet and low, it sounded like they were far away. Three creeks on the floor cut through the fog in his ears. He hadn’t opened his eyes, but he could still feel the presence of someone beside him, their shadow falling over him. They spoke again. “Oscar, are you alright?” 

The voice was soft and warm. It reminded him of his mom; the feeling that a mother’s voice carried. Slowly, he cracked his eyes open, he could see their shoes on the floor, brown boots with gold on the tips. They were kneeling by him. The yellow and black shape of a hand registered in his vision. Yang. 

He raised his eyes up, slowly, tears now spilling out that his eyes were open and blinking. 

“Hey,” she spoke slowly, keeping her tone low as before, “Did that dust explosion scare you?”

He didn’t answer. No words would come out, he just continued to suck in breaths, turning his face to hide it in the blanket. 

“Oscar, it’s okay if you were scared,” She edged a little closer, hand hovering near the one gripping the blanket, “but you need to take some deep breaths, okay? You gotta do it.”

He tried taking in a breath, the exhale came out as another choked heave. “Keep going.” Yang’s voice instructed him. “Again.” He tried again, this time a little easier to get out, but still shaky. With his breathing ever so slowing he leaned back a bit from the bed, shoulders slacking. His eyes glanced over to see Yang’s left hand held out toward him. With a weak, trembling hand, he took it. She held onto it gently, but just enough squeeze to keep his focus on her, her thumb running over his hand. His breathing was more under control, still a bit shaky, but no longer hyperventilating. 

“Sorry….” His voice came out in barely a whisper.

“It’s okay,” Yang took his other hand, prompting it to let go of the blanket he had had in a death grip, “it’s not your fault…..do you want to talk about it?”

“I…..” He started, looking at the floor, “I just got scared…..”

“Oscar,” Yang started, “do you not like fire?”

He nodded, still not looking at her. He let go of her hand, a hand trailing up at his bandages. “When I was little…...there was a big fire in the village I lived at with my parents. Bandits had tried to raid the village, they didn’t entirely, but a fire had started throughout the town. They left…..and Grimm were coming. I could hear them in the distance. My mom…..she had been crushed in the entrance of our house trying to get both of us out. I tried to get her out, but I wasn’t strong enough to lift the wood, or even touch it. I couldn’t help her, and there was no one around. There was fire everywhere…..” He trailed off, staring at the ground. 

“You lost your mom,” Yang stated more than questioned, “I’m sorry.”

“I got burned while trying to get her out.” He flexed his hand in front of him. “My hands, and then when another piece of wood burned through, another dropped on me across my neck.” His hand returned to the bandages. “My dad found me eventually and saved me, but I don’t remember much of that.” More tears fell down his cheeks, he wiped at them. “Sorry, I-I don’t want to bother you with this.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m sorry that that happened to you.” Yang let go of his other hand. “I know exactly how you feel. At the very least, I understand what happened to you today.” She held up her prosthetic arm. “Do you know how I lost this?”

“No,” Oscar answered, sniffling. “But it was at the Fall of Beacon wasn’t it…?”

“Yep,” Yang nodded, eyes dropping to the floor for a moment, “I was looking for our other teammate…..Blake…..and I found her. She was being attacked by someone from the White Fang, someone she used to know. I tried to save her…..I launched myself at him….and that was it. The next thing I knew I was in the Vale Safe-zone and missing an arm.”

“I’m sorry, that’s horrible. I’d heard about The Fall on my Aunt’s farm….I couldn't even imagine what it was like.” Oscar hugged his knees. 

“It was hard.” Yang continued. “I stayed at home for a long time, scared…..and sad. Everything I did was a reminder of what had happened. Then, and even now, I still have flashes of that night, of Adam. They just happen, and I can’t control them. Even when I fight now, my other hand will still shake.” She looked at him again, “So I know what you’re going through. These things happen sometimes when something like that happens to you.”

Oscar nodded, “Thanks, Yang….how do you get past being scared now?”

“I’m still scared.” Yang answered. “To be honest, seeing Adam again scares me. I 

may be scared for the rest of my life, even if I never see him again or end up facing him again and win. But I won’t let that fear control me. I won’t let it make me run.”

“I don’t want to run either, but even if I try to do something, I still end up hesitating or avoiding it.”

“Well…..we can start small.” Yang took a deep breath, leaning back. Bringing her fists up, she gently punched them together, her hair lighting up with it’s fiery glow. Oscar flinched back for a moment, watching her. She opened her eyes, now red, usually with fury, but this time they were soft and matched with a smile. She held out a hand to him. 

“Here, would you like to touch it? I don’t usually let anyone do this, but I can make an exception just this once.”

Slowly Oscar reached his hand out taking hers as she guided it up towards her hair. Her hand let go, letting his hesitate for a moment. He took a deep breath, keeping his eyes locked with hers, before finally resting his hand on the golden locks. He instinctively squeezed his eyes shut, tensing up. It was warm. Her hair was on fire and burning, but it wasn’t extremely hot like it seemed. It was warm, and soft. He opened his eyes, shoulders slacking as he took in the senses. His hand ran up and down gently, petting her hair, before pulling his hand back. 

“Huh…..that’s not as scary as it was before….”

“See? You’re already a step forward. And if you do ever get scared like that again, you know you can always come to anyone else here, or me. Promise me you will?” Yang held up the pinky on her metal arm. 

“Okay, promise.” Oscar held out his own, sealing the promise.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Feedback and any thoughts you have are welcome! I feel much more comfortable doing one-shot writings, and am happy to be posting something again.


End file.
